Hudson wrestling wins titles at own Super 16 Tournament

The host Hudson High School wrestling team took four individual titles, but the Dundee Vikings took home the championship trophy at the Hudson Super 16 Tournament Saturday.

A total of 20 teams were represented. Dundee, the top-rated team in Division 3, finished the day with 233 points. The Vikings had three champions, five runners-up, a third-place finisher and two fourth-place finishers.

Hudson was second with 188 points. Besides their three champions, Hudson had three second-place finishers, a third-, a fifth- and a sixth-place wrestler.

Adrian was the only other Lenawee County team at the tournament. Anthony Garcia was third at 125 pounds, picking up an 18-2 technical fall over Austin Vannatter of Richmond in the consolation final.

Individual titles for Hudson were won by Isaac Dusseau at 119 pounds, Cole Weaver at 130, Jake Morgan at 215 and Zach Rieger at 285. Weaver had two pins and a major decision, while Morgan knocked off the top-ranked wrestler in the state in his weight class, Jay Sroufe of Dundee.

Hudson coach Scott Marry said Morgan's championship match was the best he has wrestled all season.

"I hope that he can build on this and just keep getting better," Marry said. "He's only a junior, and we're hoping he uses this as a springboard for the postseason."

Dusseau took a 3-2 lead over Darrin Crandall of Springport after one period and 4-2 after two. Crandall tied the match on a reversal at 1:25 of the third period. Each wrestler had a reversal with Dusseau also getting a near fall for the margin of victory.

Two other Tigers lost in the finals. Roddy Hamden lost to Kole Krauss from Grand Rapids Catholic Central, when Krauss picked up two points on a reversal with 12 seconds left for the 9-8 decision.

At 135 pounds, JD Waters fell behind Dansville's Foster Bunce and was not able to catch up, losing 10-3. Bunce's record this season is 33-1.

Two of the top matches of the day concluded the tournament. Morgan took down Sroufe just before the end of the first period. In the second period, he escaped and had a takedown for a 5-1 lead after two. The third period saw both wrestlers score often before Morgan secured the 12-7 win.

At 285 pounds, Rieger and John Marogen of Dundee — a pair of longtime rivals — finished a scoreless first period when neither could gain enough leverage for a takedown. Marogen escaped early in the second period, and the two again had a lot of hand-checking and head-butting without any more scoring. Rieger started the third period with an escape and then got the winning two points on a takedown with 54.7 left. After letting Marogen escape at the end, Rieger took the 3-2 victory.

Richmond, rated second in Division 2, was third in the team standings with 148.5, followed by Grand Rapids Catholic Central with 116. Detroit Catholic Central White was fifth with 95.5 points, followed by Manchester with 77.

Other area teams participating were Hillsdale, Ida, Monroe Jefferson, Michigan Center and Grass Lake. Marry said the tournament did what it was created to do: get teams prepared for the postseason.

"We designed the Super 16 to bring the best competition in and help the kids get ready," he said. "Everybody wrestled hard all day. It was a great tournament."